Rust proves a big hit for Garry's Mod creator Facepunch Studios

The success of Garry's Mod established Facepunch Studios, but the developer's latest effort, Rust, appears to be an even bigger hit.

Though Rust, a survival game that pits players against an unforgiving, mysterious wilderness, is currently incomplete, the game's release on Steam Early Access has managed to attract more than 250,000 players since its December 11 debut. According to a GamesIndustry interview with Facepunch founder (and Garry's Mod namesake) Garry Newman, that rapid influx of customers has generated "about 40 percent" of the income Garry's Mod has attracted in its nine years of availability, all in little more than a month.

With Rust well on its way to success, Newman's development team is focused on adding content to the game, and removing certain ideas such as the game's undead denizens. "[W]e really wanted to get rid of [the zombies] before we launched on Steam, but kind of failed, because we didn't want people reviewing it as just another zombie survival game," Newman said. "We want to remove them, though - we'll probably end up removing them and replacing them with nothing, first, then working something else in eventually."

Newman also makes mention of a backstory for the world seen in Rust, though he wisely avoids any specifics. "We don't really want to tell anyone about it just yet, though, because if we talk about it before we do it they'll get angry at us!"